So the news is blaring about how Arnold Schwarzenegger fathered a child with a woman working in their home over ten years ago. While I feel sorry for his wife, Maria Shriver, one thing she does have on her side in this situation is the law. Imagine if she had been a man?
I was watching the Today show about this case and the hosts of the show were all atwitter about how women were so upset by this type of infidelity, to the point it made their skin crawl and anyone should understand. Unfortunately, if you are male in this country and your wife has a child by another man, that's your problem. The women on the show acted as though only men were unfaithful.
Apparently, they never read (or neglected) the studies such as one from U.S. News & World Report stating "Studies of blood typing show that as many as 1 out of every 10 babies born in North America is not the offspring of the mother's husband."
A man has no choice but to pay for a child in this situation should he find out ten years after the fact, or even sooner. Not only does a woman not pay, but I heard a news show saying that Shriver may be entitled to compensation in a divorce if Schwarzenegger paid any support for the child. Imagine the outrage if Shriver was kicked in the gut not only with the news of this illegitimate child but double-kicked when told by the law that she now had to contribute to the child's support until the child was 18? It is unimaginable. Not so for men.
Why is there no similar outrage for men in this situation?
Update: "Schwarzenegger May Not Be the Legal Father Says Celebrity Attorney Andree Taylor" (thanks to the reader who emailed this article).